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Newfoundland Pea Soup and Dough Boys

Traditional Newfoundland Pea Soup and Dough Boys. A made with leftover ham or salt beef, it’s a hearty local favourite that has warmed many a belly over the decades.

Newfoundland Pea Soup and Dough Boys

A great traditional Newfoundland pea soup with our version of dumplings, which we call Dough Boys.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, who ever grew up in Newfoundland, never had pea soup and dough boys. Dough boys is the local name for what folks in most parts of North America would refer to as dumplings; very simple, flour-based dough balls that are dropped into simmering soups or stews to gently cook to fluffy perfection in the last few minutes before the meal was served.

This delicious soup harkens back to the days when stretching the family food budget was much more a necessity than a culinary expression. Hmmm… come to think of it, with the cost of groceries these days, perhaps it is still a necessity, if not just very smart and economical meal planning. Even in my own upbringing, nothing in our kitchen was wasted ad that’s how I still do it today.

Newfoundland Pea Soup and Dough Boys

The center bone from a smoked baked ham on a Sunday would be boiled to create the stock that would become the base for a pea soup on Monday. The leftover ham, if there was any, would be cut into small chunks to add to the soup as well.

In Newfoundland, salt brined, cured beef is also a very traditional ingredient in split pea soup. You can replace the ham in this recipe with about half the amount of salt beef. Just be sure to soak the salt beef in water for 24 hours before using it in the soup and please change the water at least once during that time or you risk your soup being far too salty.

Cut the salt beef in small cubes and add to the pot with the peas and use water or vegetable stock instead of ham stock (Corned beef is also a good choice if salt beef is not available in your area.)

Traditional Newfoundland pea soup would have been very simply seasoned with only yellow onions, pepper and salt if necessary. Garlic, thyme and bay leaves would have been unknown in these parts to my grandmother’s generation, so if you want to enjoy the traditional version, please feel free to omit these ingredients, I don’t object.

Newfoundland Pea Soup and Dough Boys

I’m a believer that all food cultures are continuously evolving, so I tend to meld the old with the new to create my updated versions of many recipes. It’s always good, however, to pay homage to our culinary heritage by preparing the simple and delicious version that so many have enjoyed and gained sustenance from for generations.

This is a terrific meal idea for a time-pressed workday and since popular wisdom says that pea soup is always better the next day, why not make a big pot on the weekend, warm it up the next day and with the dough boys ready in about 15 minutes, there’s one quick and delicious weekday dinner sorted. We also freeze this soup in individual servings for quick lunches too.

If you enjoyed this recipe you may also like to try our incredibly popular Newfoundland Fish Cakes recipe. We serve these any time of the day at all, including with eggs in the morning for a hearty, delicious breakfast or brunch.

Traditional Newfoundland Pea Soup and Dough Boys. A hearty local favorite that has warmed many a belly over the decades.

Course:
Dinner, Soup

Cuisine:
Newfoundland

Servings: 10or more servings

Author: Barry C. Parsons

Ingredients

1ham bone

4clovesroughly chopped garlic

1large coarsely grated carrot

1small onion, chopped

12cupswater

2cupsdried yellow split peas

3-4bay leaves

1tbspdried thyme

1tspcoarsely ground white or black pepper, your preference

1large red or sweet white onion, about 1½ cups diced (yellow onions are traditional, so use them if you want but I use sweeter onions to balance the saltiness of the ham.)

3cupsdiced carrots

3cupsdiced baked smoked ham

For the Dough Boys

2cupsflour

2tbspsugar

1tspbaking soda

2tspbaking powder

½tspsalt

Very quickly mix in with a wooden spoon:

1cupwarm milk

¼cupmelted butter

Instructions

Simmer the ham bone, garlic, carrot, small onion and water slowly in a large covered pot for 1½ hours. Strain the stock through a colander and return it to the pot. Skim excess fat from the surface of the stock.

Add the split peas, bay leaves, dried thyme, pepper and red onion. If you are using salt beef, add it here.

I don’t add any salt at this point, the salt content of the ham you are using will determine if you need to add a little at the end. Let your own taste be the guide.

Simmer slowly and gently for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the peas do not stick to the bottom of the pot.

Add the diced carrots and diced ham.

Simmer for an additional 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Taste the soup at this point to determine if any additional salt is necessary. In all likelihood, it will not. Now add the dough boys to a very gently simmering pot

To make the Dough Boys (makes about 10)

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Using a wooden spoon, very quickly mix in the milk and melted butter.

Do NOT over-work this dough. Stir in the liquid as quickly as possible and as soon as a soft dough forms , STOP mixing.

Make sure you give the soup one last good stir to make sure that that nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pot then immediately drop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls into the slowly simmering soup.

Place the cover on the pot and do NOT remove it for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the dough boys from the pot and give the soup a final stir and remove the bay leaves before serving.

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OK so I found this site this morning while looking for a chicken breast recipe, and it’s now 4:00 and I’ve been on and off the site all day saving recipes to my recipe files.

I love to try new recipes but being a Cape Breton transplant (to Ontario, Ugh 🙂 my mouth is just watering as I look at each recipe. This is the food I grew up on and had almost forgotten about. I am soooo thrilled that you started this site. I’m a fan for life!(I’m off to cook up the double crunch chicken 🙂

I am making this as we speak! It smells awesome! I am a transplanted Newfie with mainland parents, but my hubby is a “pure bred” Newf and very picky about his Newfie food. Hopefully, this will pass the test! Thanks for posting 🙂

I really want to try this recipe. Looks delicious, I am wondering when you say strain the stock through a colander and return it to the pot? Do you mean just the ham and leave everything else in there? As you can tell I am not a cooker but id love to try this. Please get back to me!Thanks!

Just wondering why you would discard the carrot and garlic. I am an advocate of not throwing away good food. I will mash it, and throw it back into the stock. Where’s the harm in that. Other than that I love this recipe. It will be my go to recipe for Pea Soup.

I am making this soup now as we speak. I have made pea soup many times and love it. It is my favorite as long as it is made traditionally. Personally I would not add garlic or bay leaves to my soup. I am afraid I wont’ enjoy it as much as traditional. And please do not use the slow cooker. It definitely won’t work. I tried it..it was awful. Stuck to the slow cooker. Just don’t work out.

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Hi, I'm Barry. I'm Dad to 2 amazing kids, author of 3 best-selling cookbooks, a freelance food writer & full time blogger. My lifetime love of cooking & baking has led me to share over 1600 recipes on this blog over the last 10 years. Come back often, there's always great new food & recipes coming out of my St. John's, Newfoundland kitchen!

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